Virginia Tech DL coach Charley Wiles plans to start DT Corey Marshall, but also go with a committee at the position vs. Miami

If there was a week during the regular season Virginia Tech defensive line coach Charley Wiles couldn’t afford to lose arguably his best defensive tackle, this week might just be the one.

Yet, that’s exactly the situation Wiles is faced with as he prepares his tackles to fill in for Antoine Hopkins, who is done for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in last Saturday’s 23-3 loss to Clemson.

Stepping in against a Miami offensive line that averages 6-foot-4 and 314 pounds per starting position, and excels at both man and zone blocking schemes in the Hurricanes’ pro style attack, isn’t the ideal spot for a group of young defensive tackle.

“This is a game where it’s not a lot of sideways, all that option stuff and bells and whistles,” said Wiles regarding the contrast in Miami’s offense compared to the spread offenses Tech faced in the first five weeks of the season. “This isn’t that…We’ve got these monsters up front (on Miami’s offensive line), so it’s totally different. It’s a bad week to lose (Hopkins).”

Wiles said he’s inclined to start true freshman Corey Marshall in place of Hopkins, but Marshall won’t have to shoulder the load on his own. Wiles plans to use a committee of players at the defensive tackle position next to starting defensive tackle Derrick Hopkins, Antoine’s brother.

Marshall will rotate with Isaiah Hamlette, Dwight Tucker, possibly fellow true freshman Luther Maddy and maybe even Courtney Prince, who has been moved this week from offensive guard to defensive tackle to provide more depth. Wiles doesn’t think any of his backup tackles are ready for significant playing time at this stage in their careers.

“If they play too many (snaps), I think it’ll catch up to us,” Wiles said.

Hamlette may see more action on defense this weekend than he has had all season. He has played 38 snaps this season, including just 12 on defense. His six snaps as a defensive backup against Clemson were the first defensive snaps he had played since the season-opener against Appalachian State.

Prince, a 6-foot-3, 282-pound junior, played defensive tackle at Tech until the spring of 2009, when he was moved to offensive guard. The fact Prince was the player that was moved back to the defensive line this week as opposed to redshirt freshman Nick Acree, who was shifted from defensive tackle to offensive tackle in the preseason, probably tells you one of two things – Acree is progressing at offensive tackle, or Wiles and the defensive staff have absolutely no faith anymore in Acree as a defensive tackle.

Maddy would’ve given Marshall a run for the starting role this week, but Maddy is still recovering from a high ankle sprain sustained Sept. 24 in Tech’s 30-10 win at Marshall. He played seven snaps against Clemson, including five on defense, but Wiles said he’s not quite back to 100 percent.

“The kid wants to be out there so badly, but he’s kind of limping around,” Wiles said. “This is a full-speed football game. I would say Corey right now, just because Luther’s not healthy. We’ve got to get him back healthy, where he can help us.”

Marshall’s agility and athleticism may help him compensate for what will be a significant weight disadvantage. He’s 6-1 and about 260 pounds right now, which means he’ll be giving up around 55 pounds to most of Miami’s starters. Of course, Miami also features 6-8, 345-pound sophomore behemoth Seantrel Henderson at backup right tackle.

“He’s got good quickness,” said Wiles of Marshall. “There’s no doubt he’s not as big as you’d love him to be, but I think Corey is a good football player. We need to hold up in there on the double-teams and the things that their offense gives you.”

Marshall, a Petersburg native who has played 86 snaps this season, actually thinks Miami’s offensive style could play into his hands. He believes he’ll be able to use his lateral agility to maneuver around Miami’s linemen.

“These guys are big and athletic,” Marshall said. “They like to incorporate a lot of side-to-side movement, which actually works in my favor with what we’ll be doing to take advantage of my lateral quickness and things like that. It’s just getting off the ball, reading your keys and making plays.”

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris must have unpleasant memories of his last trip to Blacksburg. In 2009, he was sacked three times in the rain and completed just 9 of 25 passes for 150 yards and an interception in Tech’s 31-7 win.

He didn’t play against Tech last season because he was recovering from a concussion sustained three weeks earlier against Virginia. Tech defeated home-standing Miami last season 31-17.

If Maddy is healthy enough to go against Miami this weekend, he’ll have some added motivation. Maddy is a 6-1, 283-pound native of Delray Beach, Fla., which is about an hour north of Miami’s campus in Coral Gables.

Maddy said Miami never even gave him a look while he was playing at Atlantic High in Delray Beach. As a matter of fact, before Tech came through with a scholarship offer at 9 p.m. on Feb. 1 (one day before national signing day), he was going to accept a scholarship offer to Western Michigan.

Maddy insists he doesn’t think much about Miami not recruiting him. He grew up a Florida fan anyway, but he didn’t want to stay in-state for college.

“I wouldn’t really consider going (to Miami) anyway, because I wanted to get away from home,” Maddy said. “Still, they didn’t recruit me, so I get to show them why they should’ve recruited me.”

Maddy’s college situation as it relates to Miami is somewhat similar to that of Tech junior cornerback Jayron Hosley, who also didn’t get much attention from the Hurricanes coming out of Atlantic High. Hosley said he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward “the U” for not recruiting him much.

“I’m a Florida kid,” said Hosley, who is also joined on Tech’s roster by fellow Atlantic High alums in redshirt freshman quarterback Mark Leal and true freshman defensive end Dadi Nicolas. “There’s going to be a lot of talk about Miami not recruiting me and this and that, and playing against Miami, but there’s no hard feelings. They recruited me a little bit, not as much, not heavily in high school…It’s definitely going to mean something to me because I’m playing a team from my area. A lot of people from my area are expecting me to do this and do that, (including) my family, so I want to have a good game for them and the people that are watching.”

Oh, speaking of expectations, it has been well-documented by now that Hosley set a preseason goal of 15 interceptions. Well, he’s at three now, but he said Tuesday he has re-worked his goal a bit now – he’s shooting for two interceptions…PER GAME from here on out.

Hey, a man has to dream.

Hosley was asked Tuesday about his take on Harris, a senior who has thrown 55 touchdowns and 42 interceptions in 39 career games.

“He’s a good player,” Hosley said. “He has a live arm. He’s been around the program and knows the offense. I think his mistakes come where he feels he knows (the offense) too much, and he trusts his receivers to be there. Sometimes they’re not always there. He sometimes just throws the ball a little blindly. He gets a little reckless sometimes when under pressure, so that’s what’s kind of cost him…Every game, you know you’re going to be licking your chops waiting on an opportunity to get a pick. It’s going to be a big game for us. Our secondary is going to be ready, our defense as a whole. We’re going to be ready for him. Last year, he threw us three (interceptions). We’re hoping to get three again this year, maybe more. It’s going to be a good game.”

Well, Hosley was kind of right. Miami did indeed throw three interceptions against Tech last season, but Stephen Morris was the quarterback for the Hurricanes, not Harris. Either way, that tiny detail probably doesn’t mean much to Hosley.

While Hosley anticipates Tech's defense being prepared for Miami, it sounds like Tech coach Frank Beamer isn't as sure anymore regarding his punter.

In the weeks leading into Tech's first five games, Beamer expressed optimism regarding punter Scott Demler's progress. Demler is now rated 83rd (last in the nation) among Football Bowl Subdivision punters with an average of 33.1 yards per punt.

This week, Beamer said he's still evaluating punters, including Demler, Danny Coale and Michael Branthover, but Beamer also conceded he's going to consider taking a few chances on trying to convert on fourth down as opposed to punting.

"We're going to see where we get to, but I think you play the percentages," Beamer said. "If you're not punting the ball well, it makes going for it on fourth down more of an option. I don't think there's any question about it."

If Demler does punt against Miami, his short punts at least make it less likely Miami's Travis Benjamin can hurt Tech on punt returns. Benjamin, a 5-10, 175-pound senior wide receiver who will likely see a lot of Hosley because Hosley will spend most of his time lined up on Benjamin's side of the field, is second in the nation in yards per punt return (21.3). Tech leads the nation in punt return yardage defense (averaging minus-3.2 yards per return), due mostly to the fact Demler's short punts make it difficult for teams to return them.